Apparatus for blending fibers



y 1952 J. D. wlss 2,602,967

APPARATUS FOR BLENDING FIBERS Filed Jan. 28, 1.949 2 SI'IEETSSHEET l ff 1 James D. Mise July 15, 1952 J, 155 2,602,967

APPARATUS FOR BLENDING FIBERS Filed Jan. 28, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented July 15, 1952 APPARATUS FOR BLENDING means I 1' James D. Wise, New York, N. Y., assignor, -by

mesne assignments, to Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, Inc., New York, N. 1., a corporation oi Delaware Application January 28, 1949, Serial No. 73,283

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for blending fibers in the manufacture of textiles. Y The principal object of this invention is to provide an apparatus and method that is economical, minimizes manual operation and thoroughly blends the fibers.

The principal feature of this invention is a vertical, hollow, sectored cylinder or silo having at its bottom a horizontal plate provided with at least one sectorial gate or with as many sectorial ates as'there are sectors.

Further objects .and features will appear from the following: description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1' is a verticalsection of the apparatus, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, and- Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, fiber supply duct l leads into hollow ring [2 located centrally in the top of vertical cylinder or silo l 4. Inserted in the ring I 2 and secured thereto is one end of hollow distributing arm [6, which leads down from said ring and then is bent .to radiate outwardly. The'arm' is preferably curved so that the opening at the outer end thereof is tangentially faced inrespect to the upper periphery'of the silo, as shown. The silo below the ring l2 and arm It is divided into a plurality of sectors by walls I'B radiatin from a central support 30 and is closed at its bottom by horizontal plate 20 which is provided with preferably one sectorial gate .2! which in size and shape corresponds to a sector of the silo. Both the silo and plate are independently mounted on rollers or wheels around the peripheries thereof.

Below the plate are two feed rolls 22, the axes of which are horizontal and mutually parallel. The rolls are central of and extend partially across the lower diameter of the silo, and are rotated in opposite directions so that the upper half of one roll approaches the upper half of the other roll.

Chute 24 extends angularly from the said plate to a point above the center of the rolls 22. The shape of the chute at the end adjacent to the plate corresponds to the shape of the gate 2! and is circular at the outlet end over the rolls. The chute may be rotated so as to be positioned under any one of the silo sectors, but the position of the outlet remains centered over the rolls 22, so that the material may be conveniently directed from a silo sector and deposited onto said rolls are hereinafter described.

3 Claims. (01. 19-140 .--2 n- Below the .space between the rolls 2 2 isspike roll 26 axially parallel to said rolls and likewise extending partially across the lower diameter of the silo. Below the rolls22 and spike roll 26 is, preferably, suction means 28 leading 01f to any desired location or textile machinery, such as am other silo of the invention or a picker. Any appropriate device for removing fibers from a spike roll in combination with a conveyor, may be substituted for the suction meansI employ.

In operation, the fibers, propelled ,by air under pressure, enter the ring 12 from the duct It) and from the ring into the arm I6.'- Either the ring and the arm may be rotated, or the silo may be rotated, or the arm and the silo may be rotated in opposite directions; or in the same direction at different speeds to uniformly distribute the fibers into each sector. Wherein the fibers fall bygravity onto the plate 213. In-the cases-where the silo is rotated, the .plate either may; be temporarilyv locked to the silo and rotated therewith orthe plate may be held stationary. 77 After the sectors of the silo have been filled to any desired height, the silo is held stationary, and the plate and the chute are rotated so that-the sectorial gate and the chute are brought into positiondirectlyunder a sector. The plate is ,then held stationary, and the gate is opened downwards, into the. chute allowing the contents of the sector to fall into the chute. The gate is then closed and the plate and chute are rotated again, until the gate and the chute are brought into positiondirectly underneath another loaded sector. Theprocess is repeated, theplate'and the chute being rotated and stopped and the gate being closed and opened, until all the sectors of the silo-are emptied one at a time.

In the case of the plate having as many seetorial gates as there are sectors, each gate is positioned directly underneath each sector. The chute is rotated into position underneath each gate which is opened and closed to empty each of the loaded sectors in any desired sequence.

In each of the above cases the contents of each sector fall upon the rolls 22. The latter guide the fibers into the space between them, and the fibers drop through said space onto the spike roll 26 which acts as a shredder, preparatory to the fibrous material being carried away preferably by the suction means 28 either for storage or the next processing in textile manufacture.

The above process may be repeated any desired number of times until the fibers are thoroughly blended. As a simple illustration, a stream of white fibers may first be fed to the sectors of the silo until they are half full and then a stream of red fibers until the sectors are completely full. For example, there may be four sectors, as shown in the drawing, although as many as twenty-four have been found to be operable. As each sector is emptied by any of the means described, the fibers are blended by fourths; that is, the original stream of first a batch of white fibers and then a batch of red fibers is divided into eight alternating sub-sections of first white and then red fibers, each sub-section of one color being a fourth of the original batch of that color. These fibers are then again subjected to the same process and are thereby divided into thirty-two alternating white and red sub-sections. The process is continued, until the repeatedly quartered sub-sections lose their identity as such, and the fibers are blended into a homogeneous mass of white and red fibers.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for blending fiber or the like which comprises a cylindrical container open at its bottom and disposed with its axis vertical, radial partitions in said container dividing it into similar sectors, a feeding conduit opening into said container above said partitions, means supporting said conduit and said container for relative rotation in a horizontal plane for distributing fiber or the like discharged from said conduit into said sectors in succession, a horizontal plate positioned below the open bottom of said container and having therein an opening of a size and shape corresponding to the horizontal crosssectional shape of a sector, said opening being disposed below and in alignment with a sector, a gate for closing said opening, said plate and cylinder being relatively rotatable and in a horizontal plane, a chute mounted on the lower face of said plate and surrounding said opening, said chute being inclined downwardly and inwardly and having at its lower end a discharge opening disposed on the axis of said cylinder.

2. An apparatus for blending fiber or the like which comprises a cylindrical container open at its bottom and disposed with its axis vertical, radial partitions in said container dividing it into similar sectors, a feeding conduit opening into said container above said partitions and movable about the aXis of said container for distributing fiber or the like discharged therefrom into said sectors in succession, a horizontal plate positioned below the open bottom of said container and having therein an opening of a size and shape corresponding to the horizontal cross-sectional shape of a sector, said opening being disposed below and in alignment with a sector, a gate for closing said opening, means mounting said plate and container for relative rotation in a horizontal plane, a chute mounted on the lower face of said plate and surrounding said opening, said chute being inclined downwardly and inwardly and having at its lower end a discharge opening disposed on the axis of said cylinder, a pair of feed rolls positioned below the discharge opening of said chute, and a shredder roll below said feed rolls and having a plurality of pins projecting from its surface.

3. An apparatus for blending fiber or the like which comprises a cylindrical container open at its bottom and disposed with its axis vertical,

radial partitions in said container dividing it into similar sections, a, feeding conduit leading into the top of said container, a horizontal rotatable distributor conduit connected to said conduit and opening into said container above said partitions, means for rotating said distributor conduit for distributing fiber or the like discharged therefrom into said sectors in succession, a horizontal plate positioned below the open bottom of said container and having therein an opening of a size and shape corresponding to the horizontal cross-sectional shape of a sector, said opening being disposed below and in alignment with a sector, a gate for closing said opening, means mounting said plate for rotation in a horizontal plane about the axis of said container, a chute mounted on the lower face of said plate and surrounding said opening, said chute being inclined downwardly and inwardly and having at its lower end a discharge opening disposed on the axis of said cylinder, a pair of feed rolls positioned below the discharge opening of said chute, a shredder roll below said feed rolls and having a plurality of pins projecting from its surface, and means for conveying away fiber or the like released from said shredder roll.

. JAMES D. WISE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 479,982 Heath Aug. 2, 1892 1,399,590 Truslow Dec. 6, 1921 1,682,017 Muller Aug. 28, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country I Date 349,940 Great Britain June 4, 1931 

